ASIA

A record-breaking number of delegates attended WorldDAB Automotive conference on June 23, making this event truly the hub for all conversations on digital radio in the car.
Over 500 delegates from over 70 countries registered to attend this live event, unique in  bringing together the broadcast and automotive sectors to collaborate on securing the future of digital radio in the car.
In an opening keynote, Martin Koch, VW Group’s Head of Entertainment & Car Functions affirmed that radio in the car is important not just for listeners and broadcasters, but also to car manufacturers, with their customers’ demand for broadcast radio in the car is as high as ever, and radio still taking the major share of ear in the car. However, he warned that with larger screens now a reality on the car dash, and with more and more entertainment options fighting for the attention of drivers and passengers, radio needs to provide more than audio to attract and retain audiences. 
A recurring theme at the conference was the need for broadcasters to both collaborate and compete with the tech platforms Apple Car Play or Android Automotive. Strategy Analytics’ Roger Lanctot reported that the car has evolved to become a platform, with Google being both a partner and a competitor – enabling and supporting content, but with others crowding in. 
Radio industry leaders Joan Warner from CRA Australia, Antonio Arcidiacono from EBU and Caroline Beasley from the US were unanimous in their message: broadcasters need to work together through their industry bodies to optimise the in-car radio experience to ensure that radio remains prominent and easily discoverable in the car.
WorldDAB President, Patrick Hannon outlined three key areas for the work of WorldDAB: ensuring that DAB+ is a basic feature in all cars, already in 80% of new cars as as end 2020;  creating a good in-car experience through the work of the WorldDAB UX Guidelines and metadata campaign; and improving DAB+’s place in platforms such as Android Automotive which was very much a key theme of the conference. 
Android Automotive’s Guru Nagarajan confirmed that Google is aware of the need for collaboration with radio broadcasters to create the right ecosystem for broadcast radio within Android Automotive, and he too echoed the need for broadcasters to speak with one voice to ensure the best radio services for all users and listeners. 
Other key themes from the conference:  

Aleksandra Gojkovic presented new research by the BBC revealing the complex ecosystem of needs and mediating factors driving the audio choices in-car listeners make such as availability and discoverability, with audio choices tending to be fast, instinctive, and gravitating towards the path of least resistance. 
The importance of WorldDAB’s UX (user experience) Guidelines was emphasised by Radioplayer’s Laurence Harrison and Caroline Graze. They told how a “perfect” hybrid radio (FM, DAB+, IP) needs to meet the WorldDAB UX guidelines, leading to a simple, user-centric approach to user interface design that hides the technical sophistication of the radio.
Nick Piggott, Project Director of RadioDNS presented the WorldDAB/RadioDNS’ Features Research first look, he revealed the high level of engagement all auto brands questioned have for DAB digital radio and radio in general, with most car receivers showing visual information provided by radio stations.
On personalisation and localisation, broadcasters were encouraged to provide the right experience, not just to enable an excellent listener experience for the passenger, but also to create monetisation business models.  Francis Goffin from RTBF spoke about how broadcasters in Belgium are doing this today while Christopher Ambrozic from TiVo gave an overview of how a system developed over many years for TV is being adapted to radio.

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The DRM Consortium has just developed a comprehensive and user-friendly calculator tool to determine how much energy can be saved by switching transmitters from analogue to digital DRM operation.

The DRM Energy Efficiency Calculator (https://energyefficiency.drm.org) has been created using typical performance data from transmitter manufacturers. It then calculates total expected energy usage for up to ten transmitters by considering operational mode, time on-air, and broadcasting technique assessing the energy consumption and electricity costs, based upon local market information. By comparing data sets for both analogue and DRM digital operations, it can estimate the potential (and often huge) savings broadcasters might expect from switching over to DRM.
This not only benefits broadcasters by reducing their electricity bills by double-digit percentages but proves specifically how DRM supports broadcasters’ efforts to become more sustainable though green technology significantly reducing requirements for energy produced in large parts of the world from fossil fuels.
According to Simon Keens, Sales and Business Development Manager, Ampegon Power Electronics AG (key member of the DRM Consortium) who has devised the calculator: “This new energy efficiency tool can be easily programmed into an Excel spreadsheet for ease of use and universal distribution in pdf reports summarizing the findings in simple text and graphs. This will help the engineers and all those interested to present concretely one of the great advantages of DRM, i.e., delivering substantial and sustained energy savings over many years.” 
Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Consortium Chairman, invites all those interested to a “zoom launch” of the new energy efficiency tool “Savings at Your Fingertips” on June 30th at 1000 UTC for introducing the simple device that will deliver results in minutes. “Unlike other complex studies on energy saving, this is something concrete that any broadcaster or anyone interested can create and use applying up to the minute data like transmitter power, energy costs etc. So, join us for this short takeaway session which will demonstrate how you can get concrete data and reports on energy consumption and savings through DRM use. Interested parties will be able to use it independently and thus assess and convince themselves and others of the energy saving benefit of DRM.” 
To register and join this webinar, please click here.

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In the second half of 2020, over 80% of new cars in key European markets came with DAB+ radio as standard – a dramatic increase on the same period in 2019. This step-change reflects the impact of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), which, from December 2020, requires all new car radios in the EU to be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio.

These figures were revealed in WorldDAB’s latest market report, published today to coincide with the organisation’s annual Automotive conference.
Patrick Hannon, President of WorldDAB, said: “These results demonstrate that DAB+ is firmly established as the core future platform for radio in Europe. The recent progress in Germany, France, Italy and Benelux has been particularly impressive – and reflects the high levels of co-operation between players across the radio ecosystem. Looking forward, our goal is to ensure that the key benefits of broadcast radio – being free-to-air, independent of gatekeepers and reliable in emergencies – remain at the heart of listeners’ automotive audio experience.”
The WorldDAB report also highlighted that, by the end of Q4 2020, nearly 100 million consumer and automotive DAB/DAB+ receivers had been sold in Europe and Asia Pacific – up from 92 million 6 months year earlier.
Key findings of the reportDAB+ is now in over 80% of new cars in key European markets, driven by the impact of the European Electronic Communications Code which came into force end 2020, as well as the expansion of DAB+ in key markets such as Germany, France and Switzerland where preparations are ongoing to switch off FM in 2022-2023.
The EECC requires all new car radios in the EU to be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio. UK, Switzerland and Norway have 97-100% DAB+ as standard, and in Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany over 80% of new cars sold have DAB+ fitted as standard. In Australia, 77% of new cars sold now have DAB+ fitted as standard (up from 60% in 2018).
The growth in receiver sales has been driven also by market forces: France will launch national DAB+ services in October 2021[1], Germany launched a second national DAB+ multiplex for commercial radio in October 2020, and in the UK has seen DAB listening overtake FM for the first time.
Several EU countries – including Germany, France, United Kingdom and Italy – have already introduced regulations to implement the EECC directive into national legislation, while other countries – including The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, Slovakia and Malta – have initiated procedures to implement the EECC into national legislation.
Other highlights from the WorldDAB report include:

In France, 82% of new cars were sold with DAB+ as standard in H2 2020 compared to 38% in H2 2019
In Germany, 80% of new cars were sold with DAB+ as standard in H2 2020 compared to 22% in H2 2019
In Switzerland, 73% of all radio listening is via digital platforms, and 41% of all listening is on DAB+. Switzerland has confirmed FM will be switched off by January 2023
Nearly 47 million receivers have been shipped in the UK, with 67% of households having at least one DAB receiver
In Italy, sales of consumer DAB+ receivers more than doubled in 2020 (up 126%) following the introduction of rules requiring all receivers to have DAB+ from 1st January 2020

The infographic details the rollout status in 24 emerging markets including information on trials and population coverage – not only in Europe but also in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The infographic also gives a comprehensive overview of DAB receiver sales, road and population coverage, household penetration and the number of national stations on DAB/DAB+ compared to FM. The report covers Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the UK.
[1] In France, DAB+ is already on air in ten major cities / regions

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The number one problem businesses tell me they have today is finding people who want to work.
Sound familiar in Australia and New Zealand?
The additional Federal unemployment dollars have made it more profitable for people to stay at home than to work. Unfortunately, this means that businesses have had to change their hours of operation, days open, etc. because they don’t have enough staff. 

But this is ending! In some states, like Oklahoma and Texas, the Federal subsidy ends June 26. Already, driving down any street shows business after business with “now hiring” signs prominently displayed. By July 1, all are hoping that people will be looking for jobs. 

Which brings us to the subject of this newsletter: using radio for recruitment advertising. In years past, recruitment ads made up a large part of newspaper revenue. Not so today. Recruitment ads have migrated to the Internet. Sites like Indeed, Zip Recruiter, Linked In and even Facebook take a good share of recruitment revenue. 

Radio is a perfect recruiting tool. My experience has been that the person looking for the job is not always the person who hears the ad. Someone they know hears it and tells them. Word of mouth at its best. In fact, I’ve hired people who told me that this was the pathway they took. 

How do we go about selling recruiting ads? Today, there are several areas to consider. Area #1 is any current client you have. Chances are, they are looking for people. Ask them. Bring them a plan. They already know and trust you but they may never have thought about using your stations for recruiting.

Area #2 is ANYWHERE you see a “now hiring” sign displayed. Stop and make an appointment to talk with them about how we can help.

Area #3 is the HR department of larger stores. HR directors have a separate set of funds to use for hiring. This person is usually NOT the marketing manager you have dealt with in the past. The time is now to identify the HR person, make an appointment and find out what types of openings they have. It’s helpful to make the connection BEFORE they need to hire. The key is to make it simple for them. HR directors, especially those who work for companies that have plants, deal with a constant turnover in employees. When they have an opening, they need to be able to email or call us and place the order. Having arrangements made beforehand makes it simple. Many stations work out a pre-determined schedule that is simply plugged in when needed. Ad copy will vary based on the specific job opening. 

We know there is a 60,000 person shortage of truck drivers. Who in your area employs truck drivers? Chances are they need some now! And, how about truck driving schools? Even schools out of your area may want to entice students. 

Now is the perfect time for radio to shine in helping our clients to staff up, to prepare for revenue recovery. Recruitment opens a new area of revenue for us. They win: we win: the country wins!
 
Pat has a New Book

What will broadcast sales look like in the future? What new skills will we need to be successful? How has the world-wide business interruption in 2020 changed how we will do business in the next year

Looking forward to 2021, we need a strategic plan to recover lost revenue for our stations and for our clients. The ideas in this book will help you to develop that plan.

“Successful Broadcast Sales: Thriving in Change” provides a clear, concise roadmap for understanding the world of our clients, accessing those worlds and living in them to create successful campaigns. It explores how we must adapt our sales systems to succeed in an ever-changing business landscape. Knowledge is the key to unlocking success for us and for our clients as the new year arrives.

This book takes a retrospective look at the pandemic of 2o20 and presents a blueprint for adapting to the changes brought about by new ways of doing business. It outlines a way forward to successfully navigate and thrive in change.

Inside you’ll find:

A sales system designed to accelerate success for both new recruits and seasoned professionals
Understanding the internal motivations that move clients to buy from you
New ways to prospect, new categories of business, that will keep your sales pipeline full
Questions to uncover what clients are thinking and planning for the next years
Presentations designed to craft high-dollar, long-term campaigns
Strategies to reduce attrition
New ways to hone your creative skills to produce relevant messages for businesses
Ways to integrate radio and digital advertising to achieve greater results for clients
Wisdom from managers around the world regarding how to manage teams remotely

The ideas in this book will make money for you and for your client! Add it to your sales library today! […]